Michelin's Innovative Active Wheel – 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed

French tire giant, Michelin, is showcasing its innovative Active Wheel technology in the FoS Tech Pavilion at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming weekend.

The Michelin Active Wheel is a standard wheel that houses a pair of electric motors. One of the motors drives and brakes the wheel while the other acts as an active suspension system to improve comfort, handling and stability. The system is powered by battery or fuel cell-powered electric vehicles and the technology is such that a vehicle equipped with it will no longer need a gearbox, clutch, drive shaft, universal joint or anti-roll bar.

The Active Wheel provides direct power delivery of approximately 40 bhp as well as regenerative braking. In addition it replaces mechanical suspension with active suspension controlled by an in-wheel electrical suspension motor.

Each wheel weighs 92 lbs and includes a 40 bhp water-cooled drive motor of a similar size to a conventional starter motor. There is also a coil spring to hold the static load of the car and a small outer rotor disc brake. The wheel motor is attached to the vehicle chassis by a single lower control arm. Together, the two front wheel motors deliver a combined 81 bhp, which can peak at up to 163 bhp for short periods.

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